Mr Nick Shaper of Bradford Royal Infirmary,UKpresented a comparison of the performance of Spiral Flow[TM]prosthetic vascular grafts compared to conventional ePTFE grafts at the Veith Symposium inNew York,USA

Mr Shaper FRCS, Consultant Vascular Surgeon at Bradford Royal Infirmary, said, "The study showed significantly encouraging initial results for the use of Spiral Laminar Flow[TM]grafts in lower extremity bypasses to warrant continued usage and further long term data acquisition."

Initial results, from the on-going study, were presented at the 39th Annual Veith Symposium on Friday 16th November, 2012 in New York, USA. The study followed up the implantation of 31 Spiral Flow[TM] peripheral vascular grafts (Vascular Flow Technologies, Dundee, UK) between February 2011 to October 2012 with prospective data on-going and a retrospective analysis of 136 conventional ePTFE grafts from same unit implanted between January 2003 to December 2008. The comparison presented was based on 1 year data available on 114 conventional PTFE grafts and 12 SLF[TM] grafts. The patients all had lower extremity bypasses.

The study showed that primary patency for the SLF[TM]graft was 92% compared to 48% for the conventional PTFE graft and secondary patency 100% for the SLF[TM]graft compared to 55% for the conventional PTFE graft. The amputation rate in the SLF[TM] graft group was 0% compared to 10% for the conventional graft group.

The innovative design of the Spiral Flow[TM] Graft is different from all other prosthetic vascular grafts. Near the distal end of the graft there is a 'Spiral Flow Inducer'- an ePTFE helical ridge on the graft lumen which remodels turbulent blood flow created by diseased vessels and conventional grafts into the body's own natural spiral flow pattern.

Neointimal hyperplasia (NIH) is the primary cause of failure in prosthetic grafts. It is caused, to a large degree, by turbulent blood flow - the Spiral Flow[TM] Graft re-instates natural blood flow thereby eliminating turbulence as a cause of NIH.